Unrequited Love
by indigo
Summary: Draco's got a secret crush on...Hermione!?
1. Default Chapter Title

***Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters in the Harry Potter books. JK Rowling does.   
And I'm not making any money off of this so please don't sue me.***  
  
Unrequited Love  
  
"Draco, could you hand me that quill, please?" An overly sweet voice broke into Draco Malfoy's thoughts, causing  
him to start and whirl around to face Pansy Parkinson.  
"Huh? What? Ok, sure Pansy…" He reached over to retrieve the quill she'd dropped, conveniently, right next to his   
desk.   
"Thank you, Draco," she said in that honey-coated tone of hers that made him cringe.   
"No problem," he drawled, charmingly he thought, trying not to be sick all over his school robes.   
Pansy had been giving him trouble ever since First Year. A fellow Slytherin, there was no getting away from her,   
whether sitting next to him at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall or trailing him all the way to the dungeon Common Room.   
She wasn't bad-looking, and heaven knew Draco was a bit flattered that she had such an obvious crush on him, but his   
heart belonged to someone else. The only problem was, that someone else just didn't know it yet. Aside from the fact that,   
of course, that same someone hated him with a passion.  
***  
"Harry, wait a bit!" Hermione called to one of her best friends, who turned away from the opening to Gryffindor  
Tower and watched her run towards him across the Common Room.  
"Yeah, what is it, Hermione?" he asked.  
"Are you going to the Library to do research for that essay Professor Binns gave us? I should join you, I mean, it's   
been ages since I went to do some extra reading for Arithmancy…"  
"Yeah, like, 3 hours," came the sarcastic voice of Ron Weasley, Hermione's other best friend.  
"Oh shut up, Ron," she replied haughtily. "In any case, Harry and I are going, so are you coming or not?"  
Ron shrugged his shoulders in reply, and the three of them made their way to the School Library.  
***  
"Crabbe! Goyle!" Malfoy scowled in annoyance as his two mentally challenged lackeys turned around to face  
him. "I need to go to the Library to do some reading for Potions. Professor Snape said I could get extra points if I could   
find a copy of an Enchantment Potion. You two go on ahead, I'll meet you in the dungeon later."  
They made grunting noises in response, which was good enough for Draco. He headed towards the Library, leaving   
his two "bodyguards" to their own devices.  
  
As he neared the Library door, Draco was aghast to see his two worst enemies, Potter and Weasley, headed in the   
same direction. And walking in-between them was…her. Hermione Granger, to be more precise. Curse the day he had   
started liking a Mudblood, but he had, and now he blushed to the roots of his silver-blonde hair every time she came within   
his vicinity.  
"Hello Potter, Weasel, MUDBLOOD," he said rudely as he reached for the handle of the door to the Library.   
"Can it, Malfoy," Weasley growled. Potter and she stayed silent, though Draco noticed the anger burning behind   
Potter's green eyes.  
"After you, losers," he said, sneering, then bowed mockingly as the three of them passed through the door he was   
holding open. Weasel just barely managed to slip in before Draco let it go with a bang. He then opened it again for himself.  
What possessed him to insult her like that every time he saw her? He gulped and contented himself with staring at   
the back of her head as he watched her from the "Potions and Magical Spells" section of the library.   
***  
Part II coming soon! Please review and be kind, this is my first fic. 


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***Disclaimer: Don't sue me, I don't make money off of this stuff...***  
Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed part I!! You really inspired me to continue the story!   
Well, here goes...  
  
  
Unrequited Love (Part II)  
  
Draco left the Library feeling more miserable than ever. He hadn't found the Enchantment Potion, and he was   
getting nowhere with Hermione. How was he going to tell her how he felt? WAS he going to tell her? Somehow the thought   
made his stomach lurch. What would he say? He wasn't even sure if he wanted to tell her anymore...it was probably just a   
meaningless infatuation...  
He knew he was kidding himself. This was the real thing. Like it or not, he had fallen and fallen hard for a Gryffindor,  
a MUDBLOOD Gryffindor at that. "Wow, love really IS blind..." he said to himself as he made his way towards the Slytherin   
Common Room.  
Pansy was waiting for him just inside the entrance. "Oh DRACO, there you are! I've been looking for you ALL over   
the place! I asked Vincent and Gregory where you were but they told me they had no idea..." Malfoy silently thanked Crabbe  
and Goyle for that, even though he knew it was more because of their lack of brain cells rather than an actual attempt to   
protect him from Pansy. But, memory lapse or not, the last thing he needed was for Hermione to see him with another girl...  
"Urghmm." He said in reply, then flopped down on one of the sofas close to the fire. He cursed himself for choosing a   
two-seater as Pansy sat right down next to him, close enough so that he had trouble breathing. "Uh, Pansy, would you mind   
moving over a bit?"  
She acted like she hadn't heard him as she went prattling on about how Snape had given the Hufflepuffs a 50 point   
deduction for some mistake Fletchley had made during a Potions class. "Can you believe that, 50 points? Well, it's not as if   
they were in the running at all for the House Cup but now they're SURE to pose no threat whatsoever..."  
Draco tried to be polite, nodding now and then to give the illusion he was listening, but after a while he couldn't take it  
anymore. He left abruptly, mumbling some excuse about being tired, and trudged to the boy's dormitories to wait for supper.   
At least he was safe from Pansy there.  
***  
"That Slytherin scum, I swear, one day he's going to go too far..." Ron was fuming as Hermione, Harry and he walked   
back to the Tower. "One of these days I'm going to put a curse on him that'll make his legs separate from his body!"  
"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, scandalized. "That's gross!"  
"Don't tell me you're defending him!" Harry spoke up. "After everything he's done!"  
"I am NOT defending him!" She said indignantly, and the three of them stayed silent as they entered the Common   
Room.  
"Up for a game of Wizard chess, Harry?" Ron asked as they sat down in the squishy armchairs littering the Common   
Room. Harry nodded his reply and Ron raced off to get his set in the boy's dormitory.  
"Hmm." Harry said as he looked at Hermione intently.  
"What? WHAT?" She said shrilly.  
"No need to get all worked up, Hermione! I was just thinking, you and Malfoy..."  
"Don't even THINK it Harry!" she cried, and the subject was closed for the rest of the evening, which Hermione   
spent watching Harry and Ron play Wizard chess.  
***  
After dinner, Draco managed to avoid Pansy and went straight to the dormitory to do some thinking. He had made up   
his mind over a bowl of squash soup. He was going to tell Hermione tomorrow, whether she liked him back or not. He had   
to know, at least. And if she didn't return his feelings...well, he'd have shamed himself, his family, the whole of Slytherin House.   
But suddenly he realized he didn't care about any of that. All he cared about was HER. "It doesn't matter what the rest of them   
think!" he said fiercely to himself.   
"You tell 'em, honey!" called the mirror from the other side of the room. Draco blushed furiously and pulled on his   
pajamas, then climbed into bed. He fell asleep almost immediately.  
***  
Part III coming very soon! Please review!   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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***Disclaimer: don't sue me please, i don't make money off of my stories***  
Author's Note: you asked for it, you got it! part III of my draco/hermione story---please try and bear with the formatting, there's really nothing i  
can do unless some NICE PERSON WITH A KIND SOUL DECIDES TO HELP ME!!! *cough cough*  
anyway, on with the show...  
  
Unrequited Love (Part III)  
  
"Hermione...I...I think I like you..."   
"No, no, no, no, NO!" cried the mirror angrily. "I TOLD you, if you want to impress the girl, you gotta be smooth....confident! Now try   
it again."  
Draco cleared his throat and prepared to, for the umpteenth time, tell the mirror he loved her. He'd gotten over his initial embarassment   
and actually found the mirror to be quite a good coach, though fairly impatient. "Hey baby, c'mere...I got my eye on you..."  
The mirror couldn't help it. She laughed in his face, a howling, screeching laughter that probably could be heard in the Common Room.   
"Ssssh!! Shut up! I just did what you told me to!" he said hurriedly.  
"I...*gasp*...didn't...*choke*...tell you to....*snicker*...imitate...*chortle*...J-John Tr-Travolta from GREASE!" she managed to say.   
"John WHO?"  
"Nevermind. Look, I give up. When all else fails, do what I would do...just say it from the heart..." Draco was pretty sure he could do   
THAT.  
***  
Hermione looked up from her Arithmancy book to see Harry and Ron descending from the spiral staircase leading up to the boys'   
dormitories. "Finally!" she said, exasperated, shutting her book and getting up to join them. "I've been waiting for you two forever! Can we get   
some breakfast now?"  
"Sure, Hermione..." Harry replied, and they set off for the Great Hall, talking amongst themselves the whole way.  
When they got there, the Hall was already fairly crowded, and they took their usual seats at the Gryffindor table next to Fred and   
George Weasley, Ron's older twin brothers. "Hey you guys, isn't that Errol?" Ron said to them, pointing to a feather duster-like thing heading   
toward them, as the morning owl post delivery took place. He was referring to the Weasley family owl, an old tawny one that was well over its   
expiration date. The feather duster dropped down onto Ron's lap, along with a sealed white envelope, and promptly fainted.  
Ron shrugged and tore open the envelope. "Hey Fred, George, it's from Mum!" he called to them.  
"No Ron, it's from the Minister of Magic," Fred said sarcastically, as he and George got up to read the letter over Ron's shoulder.  
"She says Percy's just been promoted at his job...must be walking around even more haughtily than usual," he remarked for Harry's and  
Hermione's benefit. Percy was Ron's other older brother, and he'd just recently graduated from Hogwart's and started working at the Ministry  
of Magic. "She also says she's going to send you some treacle fudge, Harry...she saw that last picture of you in the Daily Prophet, says you're   
getting too thin..."  
"Yum." Harry said happily. Ron continued broadcasting the contents of the letter, and then the three of them finished up their breakfast   
and stepped out of the Great Hall.  
"Guys, I need to go to..." Hermione started, but before she could continue, Ron interrupted.  
"The Library?" He said, feigning astonishment.   
"Yes, the Library, I need to write that essay for Transfiguration..."  
"Okay, okay, Hermione, no problem. We'll meet you at the Common Room later, alright?" Harry said. She nodded and they went their   
separate ways.  
***  
Draco Malfoy's stomach was in knots. Today was the day. He'd promised himself that he'd get it over with by lunchtime, and he was   
going to keep that promise. He just needed to calm himself a little. He decided the Library, with its quiet, peaceful atmosphere, was just the place   
for that.  
He reached the Library and stepped inside, then ducked behind the Dragons section just in time to avoid Hermione seeing him. What   
was she DOING here? Of all places?  
"DUH, you idiot, this place is like her second home..." he said softly to himself. Why hadn't he realized that?  
And then the thought hit him. What if he did it now? What if he just went up to her, and said it? He looked around. No one else was   
in the Library, since it was Saturday, the day when Hogwart's students generally slept-in. It was safe. There, he had made up his mind.  
He stepped out from behind the shelf, clearing his throat, and Hermione looked up from where she was writing on a piece of parchment.   
Her expression changed into one of...no, not hatred...astonishment, maybe? "Malfoy! What are YOU doing here?"  
"Nothing, MUDBL---" He stopped himself before he insulted her. "Nothing, Her-Hermione," he replied, her name sounding foreign to   
his ears and feeling weird on his tongue.  
She seemed genuinely shocked at this use of her first name. "Did you just call me...?" she asked weakly, her voice trailing off.  
"Oh, come on, Hermione, I don't hate you THAT much. In fact," and at this he sat down across from her,"I actually kind of...LIKE you."  
There, he'd said it. He'd done his part. Now all he needed was to wait for her response.   
It wasn't what he'd expected. "How DARE you Malfoy?" she shrieked, even though there was a large sign right behind her that said   
SILENCE PLEASE. "How DARE you play with my emotions like that!? Maybe insult me, FINE, insult my friends, FINE, but DON'T play with my  
head or I swear I'll jinx you so bad you'll never be able to---"  
"Wait, wait, wait! Why are you so angry? I just bared my soul to you and now you're MAD at me? You're nuts, Granger!"  
"I have every RIGHT to be mad!" she screamed, getting up from her chair. "Here I am, I've been pining away for you for HOW   
many months, and NOW it seems you've found out and are trying to MOCK me with these false confessions!!"  
Now Malfoy was completely stunned into silence. He watched as Hermione regained her composure and sat down again, lowering   
her head onto the table. When he finally found his voice, he said quietly, "You've been pining away for me?"  
Hermione looked up, her face streaked with tears. "Well...yes."  
He said nothing, just took her hand in his. To his amazement, she didn't try to pull it away.  
***  
Okay people. tell me. should i write a part IV or just leave this where it is? catch ya later...  
-The Author 


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***Disclaimer: You know the drill. No money, no sue.***  
Author's Note: Once again, I would like to beg pardon for my crappy formatting. Enjoy.  
  
Unrequited Love (Part IV)  
  
Both Hermione and Draco sat in silence for some time, completely confused by the events of the last fifteen minutes.   
They had both admitted to liking each other. Now what? It was Hermione who broke the silence.  
"So...what now?" She asked, looking at him earnestly.  
"I don't...I don't know. For once, I don't have a sneaky solution to a problem..." he mused. Then he stared into her   
eyes. "Hermione..."  
"Don't say it. I know we have to keep...THIS a secret. Neither your House nor mine would ever let us continue this   
relationship."  
"Is it a relationship? I just don't know. I don't know if we can do this, Granger." For once, Hermione thought, he didn't   
have that perpetual smirk on his face. In fact, he looked almost, well, HELPLESS.  
"Maybe we should just let this go, you know? I don't want to be one of those people who has to sneak around all the   
time...had enough of THAT with the Time-Turner in Third Year..."  
"The what?"  
"Nothing. Oh, Draco..." he flushed with pleasure at this use of his real name,"how could we ever get through this?"  
"You know, when I was thinking about telling you how I felt, I was imagining all of the things everyone would have to   
say to me...how my parents would practically disown me, how my friends would NEVER let me forget it...and I realized that I   
didn't really care. Not now, not ever."  
They smiled at each other, and for once, Hermione felt that she didn't need to hide anything from anybody.  
***  
"Where's Hermione? She's been in the Library for HOURS," Ron remarked, bending over his and Harry's ongoing   
game of Exploding Snap.  
"Oh, you know her, I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't surface till suppertime."  
"Yeah, I guess..." He was about to get back to the game when the subject of their discussion came through the portrait  
hole entrance to the Tower.   
"Hey, Hermione! Wow, you were gone a long time," Harry called to her. She barely nodded in his direction before   
hurrying off through the door leading to the girls' dormitories. "What's with HER?" he asked Ron.  
"Dunno. Is it just me, or did she look a little flushed?"  
***  
Draco's mind was reeling. He felt giddy to the point of bursting, but at the same time, a little miserable. He and  
Hermione had decided to keep their being together a secret until they felt their friends could handle the news. But when will   
THAT be? he thought bitterly to himself. He got up from his four-poster bed and left the dormitory, in the direction of the   
Common Room.  
"Crabbe, Goyle!" he called, spotting his friends sitting near the entrance to the dungeon. They jumped and peered at  
him through their beady, dull eyes.  
"Yeah, Malfoy?" Goyle asked dumbly.  
"Where have you BEEN?" asked Crabbe, who was slightly better at forming sentences than his cohort.   
"I told you I'd be at the Library! Don't you two ever listen to me? Anyway...tell me, have you seen Pansy anywhere   
near here?"  
"Huh?" Goyle said stupidly.  
"Pansy Parkinson! You know, about this high, blonde hair, pug nose---"  
"Oh Draaccoo! I heard you were looking for me?" Draco turned around to see Pansy giving him a sugar-sweet smile,   
standing near the door to the girls' rooms.  
"Uh, uhm.." In actuality, he had been trying to make sure she wasn't anywhere NEAR him. But now she'd found him yet  
again, and he was in for another half hour of useless chatter with a hopelessly smitten girl he didn't even like much.  
"Of course you were looking for me, silly. I mean, I'm ONLY your girlfriend..."  
If he'd been drinking anything, he would have spat it out right then and there. Since when had he and Pansy been seeing  
each other? Ohhhhh man....  
"G-Girlfriend???" he stuttered, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice. "Since when--"  
The look she gave him then could've rooted anyone to the spot. It was so icy-cold and, well, SCARY, that he could do  
nothing else but stammer, "Uh, I mean, yeah, girlfriend. Uhm, let's go sit over there..."  
What had he gotten himself INTO?! And what was he going to tell Hermione when she found out?  
***  
Author's Note: Oh geez you guys, I don't know about you, but there is a story forming in my head that is MUCH  
bigger than I had initially intended for this Unrequited Love series. Tell me if you like the turn the story's taken,   
and if you don't, I'll try to end it quickly, but if you DO, I may be able to develop the plot a little further before   
the conclusion...so please review, it makes my day!  
  



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***Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything Harry, not me.***  
Author's Note: SOrry it took so long guys, but here it is, Part V  
  
Unrequited Love (Part V)  
  
Draco was standing on the cliff-face of a mountain, looking down at the village of Hogsmeade. Suddenly, he   
heard shouting and screams behind him, and a shrill voice saying "I'm going to finish you once and for all!!" He   
whirled around and saw...Hermione?? She seemed to be duelling with Pansy Parkinson, their wands emitting showers   
of gold, red, and green sparks. They rushed at each other, and at the same moment Draco ran forward, hoping to   
intervene, yelling "Stooopppp!!!!"  
  
"AAAGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Draco sat up in bed, screaming. He was drenched in sweat, and shaking uncontrollably.   
He glanced over at his roommates, amazed to see that they were still snoring in their four-posters. He mopped his forehead   
with his sleeve and tried to remember the dream he'd been having...Pansy had been in it, and Hermione too...with a flood of   
horror he suddenly felt the reality of the situation he was in. Tomorrow he would have to face two very high-strung girls and   
tell them what was going on...or else they would find out for themselves. He couldn't let that happen.  
  
With a sigh and an involuntary shudder, he lay down again and tried to get some sleep.  
***  
Hermione woke up that morning, the sun filtering in through the windows and onto her comforter. She felt extremely   
light-headed, as one would expect a 14-year-old to feel if she'd just found out her crush liked her back. She got up, dressed   
quickly, and made her way down to the Common Room.  
  
"Hey, you'd better hurry up, Hermione, we have just enough time to get some breakfast before our History of Magic   
lesson," Harry called to her as she neared the place where he and Ron were sitting.   
  
"Oh, horror of horrors, Ms. Early Bird herself is the last to get up, for once!" Ron said, smirking. "What, were you   
having a good dream or something?"  
  
Hermione blushed and said nothing. She HAD, in fact, been having a dream, about Draco. But she would flunk her   
Charms exam before she mentioned THAT to either Harry OR Ron.  
  
After breakfast, the three of them walked the short length from the Great Hall to Professor Binns' classroom. On the   
way, however, they passed a smug-looking Draco Malfoy and his two lackeys, who sniggered stupidly as Malfoy called out,   
"Hey Potter, Weasel, you better hurry or you'll be late for Professor Binns! Wouldn't want Gryffindor to lose any MORE points,  
would you?" To Hermione he said nothing, just gave her a small wink that she was sure nobody else had noticed. She frowned   
slightly at him, as if to say Don't pick on my friends, and he shut up quickly, motioning for Crabbe and Goyle to follow him.   
  
"Come on, let's get to class," she said to Ron and Harry, who were silently fuming.  
***  
It was with profound eagerness that Draco awaited the end of lessons that day. He and Hermione had promised to   
meet at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, a good way away from the castle, to talk and tell each other about their day.  
  
As the bell rang, signalling the end of Transfiguration, Draco grabbed his bag, mumbled a hurried excuse to Crabbe and  
Goyle, and headed off in the direction of the Forest. He crossed the castle grounds, all the way glancing wearily about him, and   
then, satisfied that no one was trailing him, picked up his pace. He spotted Hermione at their specified meeting place and gave   
her a wave and a huge grin as he hurried over to her. "Hey," he said cheerfully.  
  
"Draco, I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about our meeting," she said just as cheerfully.  
  
"Nah, just got held up a bit at Transfiguration. So, how was your day?"  
  
"Fine, really. Nothing special. How about you?" she asked him.  
  
"Same here. Hey, sorry about insulting Potter and Weasley in the corridor back there. I mean, it's a hard habit to break,  
right?"  
  
"It's okay, Draco, it's just that, now that we're together, it just feels weird to have you hating my best friends so much."   
She looked kind of sad now, as if it broke her heart that they couldn't get along.  
  
"Yeah, I guess. I'll try to stop it. So, any news about---"  
  
But Draco never got the chance to finish that sentence, for at that moment, Pansy Parkinson jumped out from where she  
had been hiding behind a tree on the edge of the Forest. "So it's true!" she shrieked tearfully. "Draco! How could you do this   
to me!?"  
  
"Do what?" Hermione said, confused, as she gazed at him with a questioning look on her face.  
  
Draco would've given anything to disappear into the ground right then, but there was nothing he could do. He hadn't   
had the chance to tell Hermione, and now she was going to find out like THIS. Pansy, still sobbing, continued, "I thought we   
had something going! Crabbe and Goyle told me, but I didn't want to believe it! And now I find out it's true! You've been  
sneaking behind my back with a Gryffindor, a MUDBLOOD no less!!" Her shrieks could probably be heard all the way to the  
castle, Draco thought idly, then opened his mouth to protest.  
  
But now Hermione had wheeled on him, a look of fury on her face. "Draco? Is this true?? You and Pansy have been...  
have been..." she almost choked on the words in her anger, "SEEING each other? I should've KNOWN you were no good!   
So much for trying to trust you! You're nothing but a slimy Slytherin snake after all!" She turned on her heel and left him with a   
still-weeping Pansy.  
  
"HERMIONE! Come BACK!" he yelled desperately, but she had already stomped off towards the castle.  
***  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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***Disclaimer: Don't sue me, I don't own harry and the gang.***  
Author's Note: Please review, but no flames. I just got one for an x-men story i recently  
posted and I've found out that i don't respond well to flames i.e. nasty email telling the  
old git to shove off! wahahahahahahahahaha!!! *maniacal laughter*  
  
Unrequited Love (Part VI)  
  
For a few seconds Draco just stood there, not daring to breathe, not daring to believe what  
had just happened. After months of liking her, he'd just lost Hermione only 24 hours after  
he'd finally confessed his feelings! He was startled out of his reverie by an angry sniffle  
coming from behind him. "Pansy! Why did you do that!?"  
  
"Oh, sure, blame this on me you two-timing WRETCH!" Suddenly Draco felt anger as he'd never  
felt it before, except perhaps for the time Professor Moody had turned him into a ferret in front   
of his peers.   
  
"Two-timing?? Pansy, get over yourself! We were never together and we never WILL be!" With that,  
he stomped off towards the castle to see if he could catch up to Hermione.   
  
He didn't see her at the entrance hall, or anywhere in the corridors. But he had to find her. He   
had to talk to her. But what if she had gone back to Gryffindor Tower? How would he get in?  
Suddenly he spotted the answer to his question coming around a bend in the corridor. "Longbottom!  
Come here!"  
  
Neville gave him a fearful look but came closer nonetheless. "What...what do you want with me,  
Draco?"  
  
"I want you to help me speak to Hermione. I think she's in your Common Room right now. But they'd   
never let a Slytherin in, so you're going to have to get her to come out and meet me in the corridor.  
Can you do that for me, Longbottom?" he attempted to look menacing, intimidating.  
  
"I...I don't know if I'm supposed to let you..." he trailed off. Draco sneered. "Yes, okay. Follow   
me." Neville led him up several flights of stairs, around many corners, finally stopping at a  
portrait of an extremely fat lady in pink. "I, uhm, I..."  
  
"Stop stammering, you prat, what is it?" Draco half-yelled.  
  
"I forgot the...the password." He turned a bright red. Draco could have strangled him right then  
and there.  
  
"Neville," he said patiently, as if speaking to a small child, "Think. HARD." Then he leaned in  
close. "Because if you don't remember that password, I will leg-lock you and present you to   
Professor Snape!" Neville whimpered and looked like he was about to cry.  
  
It took him a few seconds, but he finally managed to stutter, "Fairy lights!" before disappearing  
into the portrait hole, promising Draco he'd be back in a few minutes. Draco made a mental note  
of the exact position of the entrance to the Tower. It might come in handy later, he thought with   
a snicker.   
  
Neville did return, as he had promised, looking flustered and panicky. "I took her aside and told  
her what you wanted but, Draco sir, she...she refuses to come. She said that, uhm, you had better n-not   
let P-Pansy P-P-Pugface see you with h--her. Those were her exact words," he added, as if to   
assure Draco that he would never dare say that.  
  
Draco scowled his displeasure and thought for a moment. "Neville, how many people are in the common  
room?"  
  
"Just Hermione, Ron, and Harry, why?"  
  
"I'm going in."  
  
"What? Wha-- but you can't! You're Slytherin! You're--"  
  
"Fairy Lights!" Draco said, as he strode towards the portrait. It swung open, and he stepped into  
the Common Room. His immediate reaction was that it was much nicer than his own dungeon Common  
Room. His second reaction was to duck as Weasley threw one of his Wizard chessmen at his head.  
  
"What are you doing here, Malfoy!?!" Weasley raged, jumping up from his seat.  
  
"Get out! Get out NOW!" Harry yelled. Hermione just stood there, startled, but she quickly came back  
to her senses.  
  
"Draco! What's the matter with you?! I told Neville I didn't want to talk to you! It's OVER!"  
  
For a moment everyone stood there in stunned silence. Then Harry spoke. "What's...WHAT'S over,  
Hermione?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Uhm, Hermione, it's going to be a BIT hard to salvage the situation NOW. So you might as well tell  
us before we try and extract it out of Malfoy...with TORTURE," he added, grinning evilly. He seemed  
to have forgotten his anger in his own curiosity.  
  
"Hermione, it's okay. Tell them. And then we'll let THEM decide who they want to spread it to."  
  
Hermione's face showed conflicting emotions, but finally, she relented, motioning for all of them  
to sit down. "You see, Harry, Ron..." she loooked pained, "Draco and I have been...together. For only  
about a day, but..."  
  
"WHAT!?!" Harry and Ron said at the same time, both of them jumping to their feet yet again. "Hermione!  
That's...that's VILE!!"  
  
"Well gee, thanks," Draco muttered sarcastically. Harry and Ron rounded on him.  
  
"You...you vile...you evil....HOW DO YOU EVEN DARE!!!" Ron said, spluttering. "HERMIONE!! How could   
you!! I just....auugghh!!!" Words seemed to have failed him, as he stomped towards the door to  
what was presumably the boys' dormitories and started to ascend the spiral stairs.  
  
Harry, on the other hand, just stood there, looking from Hermione to Draco, Draco to Hermione,   
as if he couldn't believe it. "You two...together? That's...just...ugh," he let out an involuntary  
shudder and followed Ron's footsteps towards his dormitory.  
  
When they had left, Draco turned to Hermione and saw her glaring at him. "I still haven't forgiven  
you, you know."  
  
"Hermione, there's nothing to forgive! Pansy's delusional! She thought that she and I were together,   
but I would NEVER do that to you...it was just a misunderstanding. Believe me, please?"  
  
She sighed, and let out a small smile. "Okay. Okay, I believe you." Draco grinned and hugged her,  
feeling even happier than he had the first time he'd told her in the Library.   
  
"Now the problem is, what are we going to do with those two friends of yours?"  
  
"They'll live, Draco. And one of these days, we WILL be able to have an open relationship. Not all  
the Slytherin are THAT bad, you know." Draco seriously doubted this, but he nodded anyway.  
***  
Author's Note: I am really sorry to have to end this here, but the story's getting ridiculous!   
Thanks to everyone who's been following the series! I'll be starting a new one soon! =)  
  
  



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